Roofing construction



May 24, 1938. J c LATHRQP 2,118,207

ROOFING CONSTRUCTION Filed April 28, 1936 INVENTOR. r/l k C LA TH/POP.

. BY M M ATTORNEY-S Patented May 24, 1938 UNITE STTES ATENT orrice ROOFING CONSTRUCTION Jay C. Lathrop,

Cincinnati, Ohio, assignor to Application April 28, 1936, Serial No. 76,801

8 Claims.

My invention primarily relates to a roofing construction both from the assembly and method standpoints. It relates particularly to a construction involving the use of slabs of insulating material upon which a covering of slate or the like is ultimately to be laid.

The general construction utilized in the prior art involved the use of a plurality of T sections disposed with the stem of the T upwardly, the stems defining the pitch of the roof. The blocks or slabs of insulating material were then laid on the flange portions of the T and were thus supported only at their two ends and were spaced apart at least by the thickness of the stem portion of the T section. This construction is subject to several disadvantages. The fact that the blocks or slabs must be separated requires the use of a considerable amount of grouting, and by virtue of the fact that the slabs are laid on the flange portions of the T sections, a breakjoint or staggered construction has been impossible. Furthermore, on account of the fact that the stem portion of the T sections projected almost to the tops of the blocks, some of the insulating qualities of the roofing were lost, due to conduction of heat through the T sections. In the past with the stem of the T section projecting upwardly between the blocks and with the presence of to of grouting there was at least a three percent chance that nails used in fastening down the roofing covering would hit the grout or the stem of the T.

In view of the above objections, it is an object of my invention to provide a novel construction in which the insulating properties of the slabs are not decreased by conduction of heat through metal portions projecting between the slabs. Another object of my invention is to provide a roofing construction whereby the insulating slabs may be positioned in staggered or break-joint relationship. Another object'of my invention is to provide a roofing construction in which the slabs of insulating material have three points of support, whereby a minimum amount of reinforcement is required.

It is a further object of my invention to provide a roofing construction as above described, in which the blocks may be laid very close together, thus eliminating a considerable amount of grouting on the job.

Generally speaking, it is an object of my invention to provide a novel roofing construction which is more efficient from the insulating standpoint and decidedly more economical than any construction heretofore used.

These and other objects of my invention which will be set forth hereinafter or will be apparent to one skilled in the art upon reading these specifications, I accomplish by that certain method and by that construction and arrangement of parts of which I shall now describe a preferred embodiment.

Reference isnow made to the drawing which forms a part hereof and in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a portion of roofing, showing the position occupied by the blocks or insulating material upon the supporting channels, and showing also the manner in which the insulating blocks are attached to the channels.

Fig. 2 is a section taken along line 2-2 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a detailed perspective view of an exemplary clip.

Fig. 4 is a cross sectional view taken on the line 4-4 of Fig. 1.

I shall not describe the supporting structure of the roof inasmuch as this forms no part of my invention, and I have shown a portion thereof only diagrammatically in Fig. 4 to illustrate my invention.

Briefly, the roof skeleton to which I will apply my invention may comprise a number of I-beams I, disposed parallel or at right angles to the eaves. To these members I, I fasten by riveting, welding or otherwise, a plurality of flanged channel members 2. These members 2 are disposed with their flanges 3 defining the plane of the pitch of the roof and with the longitudinal axis of the members 2 at a right angle to the beams I. I preferably space the channel members 2 one-half the length of a slab apart, so that each slab will be supported at both its ends and at its center section.

On the flanges 3 of the channel members 2, I lay the slabs 4 of insulating material, which are preferably pre-cast blocks of gypsum or other light weight cementum material. I prefer to start in the cave of the roof and I may utilize an angle member 5, fastened as desired to the channel members 2. The member 5 may thus provide a ledge, supporting the lowest row of blocks 4. I lay the blocks as shown in Fig. l, in close juxtaposition, with the dividing line between adjacent blocks centered over one of the channel members 2.

In fastening the blocks 4 to the channel members 2 I may use metal clips such as are shown in Fig. 3. The clip 6 is of channel shape and has two legs I and 8. The legs I and 8 are preferably of uneven length so that the leg 8 may have a better connection with the blocks 4 than it would if it were the same length as the leg I which is limited by the depth of the flanges 3. In practice, I prefer to place the clip 6 on edge with the leg 1 extending behind the channel 3 and the edge of the web and of the leg 8 resting upon the edge of a slab 4. I then drive the clip edgewise into the insulating slab to a position shown in Fig. 1. As shown in Fig. 1, these clips are driven in substantially flush with the edges of the slabs, but of course they may, if desired, be driven but partway so as to also provide fastening means for an adjacent slab farther up the roof. 7

While I have described my invention as pertaining to roofing structure, I do not intend to be limited thereby, since it is apparent that my invention may be employed in constructing walls, ceilings or floors, and the Word roofing in the following claims is intended to embrace such structural variants.

It is to be understood that different forms of preferred embodiment may be made without departing from the spirit of my invention, and that the individual members, such as the clips 6 may be made'of varied shape Without departing from the spirit of invention.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patcut, is: V

1. A roofing construction comprising a plurality of flanged channels positioned at an angle with the horizontal with their flanges presented upwardly and defining the plane of the pitch, slabs of insulating material laid on said flanges and clips driveninto and holding said slabs to said flanges.

2. A roofing construction comprising a plurality of flanged channels positioned at an angle with the horizontal with their flanges presented upwardly and defining the plane of the pitch, slabs of insulating material laid on said flanges in break-joint relation, and clips driven into and holding said slabs to said flanges.

3. A roofing construction comprising a plurality of flanged channels positioned at an angle with the horizontal with their flanges presented upwardly and defining the plane of the pitch, slabs of pre-cast gypsum laid on said flanges, and clips driven into and holding said slabs to said flanges.

4. A roofing construction comprising a plurality of flanged channels positioned at an angle with the horizontal with their flanges presented upwardly and defining the plane of the pitch, slabs of precast gypsum laid on said flanges in break-joint relation, and clips driven into and holding said slabs to said flanges.

5. A roofing construction comprising a plurality of flanged channels positioned at an angle with the horizontal with their flanges presented upwardly and defining the plane of the pitch, slabs of insulating material laid on said flanges in break-joint relation, and channel shaped clips driven into and holding said slabs to said flanges.

6. A roofing construction comprising a plurality of flanged channels positioned at an angle with the horizontal with their flanges presented upwardly and defining the plane of the pitch, slabs of insulating material laid on said flanges in break-joint relation, channel shaped .clips driven into and holding said slabs to said flanges, and grouting between said slabs.

7. A roofing construction comprising a plurality of flanged channels positioned at an angle with the horizontal with their flanges presented upwardly and defining the plane of the pitch, slabs of precast gypsum laid on said flanges in break-joint relation, channel shaped clips driven into and holding said slabs to said flanges, and grouting between said slabs.

8. A roofing construction comprising a plurality of flanged channels positioned at an angle with the horizontal with their flanges presented upwardly and defining the plane of the pitch, slabs of insulating material laid on said. flanges, and clips to hold said slabs to said channels, said clips comprising channel shaped members disposed with one arm of said channel abutting the 7 rear face of a flange, and the other arm driven into and embedded in said slab.

JAY C. LATHRJOP. 

